Citronella candle



CITRO DRISCOLL NELLA CANDLE July 5, 1943.

Patented Jul 6,1943

CITRONELLA CANDLE Philip J. Driscoll, Newton, Mass., assignor toClifford D. Stewart, Boston, Mass.

Application September 20, 1940, Serial No. 357,508

1 Claim.

This invention relates to candles containing volatile ingredients whichar vaporized upon burning of the candle for .the purpose of repellingmosquitoes or other insects; and the principal purpose of the inventionis to provide a candle of this type comprising paraffin and oil ofcitronella so fashioned and compounded that the candle will burn formany hours and, while burning, will diffuse the citronella odor withsufficient strength to be effective in repelling mosquitoes from asubstantial area around the candle.

Repeated experiment have demonstrated that a citronella candlesatisfying the purposes of this invention cannot be satisfactorilymanufactured from many of the paraflins or waxes which are used inmaking ordinary candles or from ordinary oil of citronella which, as iswell known, is a mosquito repellent when applied in liquid form to theperson; and I have found that the best results are obtained when theimproved candle is made from a mixture of refined parafli n having amelting point of 132 F., and a heavy, slow flowing citronella oil havinga viscosity comparabl to that of molasses. Tests have shown that thecrude parafiin having a melting point at 102 F., as ordinarily used incandle manufacture, nullifies or substantially reduces the desiredeffect of the citronella oil; and that the standard, light weight, andfree flowing citronella oil does not properly combine with the paramn sothat its vapor may be diffused upon burning of the candle withsuflicient strength to be reasonably effective agains mosquitoes.

Although the proportions of the preferred ingradients may be variedwithin reasonable limits in achieving satisfactory results, I prefer tomake a candle mixture by adding twenty (20) ounces (by weight) of fullstrength, heavy oil of citronella to one hundred (100) pounds of melted.fully refined parafiin wax having a melting point at 132 F. asaforesaid. The ingredients are thoroughly stirred together while theparaffin is in a molten condition, to produce a homogeneous mixture; andthe mixture is then processed and molded with a center wick inaccordance with well known candle manufacturing methods, to produce theimproved citronella candle.

Fig. 2 is a diametrical section of Fig. 1.

The candle II is approximately two inches in height and one andthree-quarters inches in diameter; it is provided with the usual centerwick I 2; and it preferably fits a glass cup or receptacle l3 with thetop of the candle slightly below the mouth of the cup. A candle of thesedimensions will burn for approximately fifteen hours, consecutively orintermittently; and, when made with the ingredients and in theProportions above recommended, the citronella odor diffused from theburning candle will be effectiv in repelling mosquitoes from a circlehaving a diameter of approximately fifteen feet, subject to air currentconditions.

Candles manufactured in accordance with this invention obviously can beused for purposes of illumination as well as to serve the novel anddesirable purpose of repelling -mosquitoes in a simple, efiicient andunobjectionable manner.

' The candles may be placed upon a table or other The candle may be madein various sizes and shapes, but I recommend a cylindrical form which isrelatively thick in comparison to its height as illustrated in theaccompanying drawing showing a preferred embodiment of a candle made inaccordance with this invention.

In the drawing,

Figure 1 is a perspective top view of the improved candle, disposed in aglass cup; and

support or mounted in an attractive Wall sconce or holder, indoors oroutdoors; and they are preferably located from twelve feet to fifteenfeet apart when it is desired that the diffused citronella fumes bedispersed over an unusually large area.

When a candle mixture is compounded in accordance with the preferredproportions above prescribed, the citronella ingredient constitutesapproximately one and one quarter percent of the compound, but it willbe evident that this percentage is subject to variations withinreasonable limits according to the desired odor strength of the burningcandle, without departing from the essence of this invention-whichconsists essentially in providing a satisfactory and efficient candlefor use in repelling mosquitoes, comprising a mixture of a fully refinedparaflin and a relatively small proportion of a heavy or viscouscitronella oil.

I claim:

A candle of the character described comprising a body portion consistingof a mixture of refined paraflin wax melting at approximately 132 F. anda heavy, viscous'citronella oil, in proportions equivalent to a compoundcontaining approximately one hundred pounds of paraffin and twentyounces of oil, and a wick extending through the center of the candle, sothat the paraiiin is melted by the ignited wick to diffuse and dispersethe vapors of the citronella oil.

PHILIP J. DRISCOLL.

